Recommended viewing for usually ignorable games that landed a much better match-up than they have any right to.

Poinsettia. (Dec. 23, San Diego)
  • Usual game: Mountain West also-ran vs. overmatched, 7-5 straggler.
  • This year's game: Boise State vs. TCU (–2.5)
Whatever attention the Poinsettia's earned the last two years was entirely the result of its leading off the bowl schedule, and neither game -- because of TCU's blowout over hopelessly outclassed Northern Illinois and Utah's no-stakes win over Navy last year -- had any cachet whatsoever. Outside of the BCS, though, there's no higher-rated collision than undefeated Boise State and TCU, whose only losses are to Oklahoma (the Horned Frogs held the Sooners to their lowest point total of the season, 35, matched only by Texas) and at undefeated Utah in the final minute of a game the Frogs controlled throughout.

The Broncos won a tight 34-31 game when both teams were ranked in the top-20 in the 2003 Forth Worth Bowl. This time, they're both top-12 in the final BCS standings, and Boise's second win over a top-20 outfit (depending on what happens with September victim Oregon in this same stadium a week later in the Holiday Bowl) combined with the unblemished record would give the Broncos breath for one long, sustained offseason crow about the injustice of it all.

Meineke Car Care. (Dec. 27, Charlotte)
  • Usual game: Nondescript ACC/Big East team beats nondescript Big East/ACC team in nondescript fashion.
  • This year's game: West Virginia vs. North Carolina (Pick 'em)
Any matchup that's too close for Vegas to call should be interesting, but there's a lot of meat in this game. Both teams were in position to control their respective conferences in late October, and were very, very close (overtime for West Virginia in its loss to Cincinnati, two late turnovers-cum-touchdowns for Virginia Tech in UNC's three-point loss to the Hokies in September) to achieving those titles.

Most interesting, though, is two programs heading in opposite directions. With Pat White's last hurrah, West Virginia's descent into "just another Big East team" officially begins next year after the most successful three-year run in school history from 2005-07, at the same time Butch Davis' manic recruiting -- already in evidence in the Heels' extreme improvement this year over 2007 -- pushes UNC to the fore of the ACC's power vacuum. You can't do much better than Past vs. Future.

PapaJohns.com (Dec. 29, Birmingham)
  • Usual game: Big East also-ran pounds C-USA nobody.
  • This year's game: Rutgers (–8.5) vs. N.C. State
"7-5 Big East team vs. 6-6 ACC team" is about as unattractive as it gets in the abstract, but the Knights and Pack happen to have combined for 10 straight wins to close the regular season (six in a row by Rutgers, four for N.C. State) by an average of 20.4 points per game; six of those 10 wins were over other eventual bowl teams, including shocking routs of South Florida (which Rutgers hammered 49-16 on Nov. 15) and North Carolina (a 41-10 cruise for the Wolfpack the following week). Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel went from a 3:7 touchdown:interception ratio through his team's 1-5 start to a 20:5 ratio over the six-game winning streak, with at least three touchdown passes in four of the last five and an unreal 220.3 efficiency rating over the last month; Wilson hasn't been picked off since mid-September and won every all-ACC and all-freshman award he was up for.

Put it this way: If the odds on a new season were issued right now, this would be the projected Orange Bowl game instead of Virginia Tech-Cincinnati.

GMAC. (Jan. 6, Mobile)
  • Usual game: A random MAC team and a random C-USA team putting up ridiculous amounts of points.
  • This year's game: Ball State (–2.5) vs. Tulsa
Well, yeah, this is still the MAC and C-USA runners-up putting up ridiculous amounts of points. But both the Cardinal and Hurricane were strong favorites to win their respective conference championship games, had legitimate designs on a perfect record late in the year and, yes, bring absurd offenses with no defense in sight. Since the epic Marshall 64, East Carolina 61 game in 2001, the average GMAC bowl final is Winner 48, Loser 24. I promise the loser of this game will score more than 24 points.